


the romance of history

by asael



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Dates, Fluff, M/M, Miscommunication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:37:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24740140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asael/pseuds/asael
Summary: Dimitri asks Claude to accompany him to a museum - but it's not a date. And that's fine. Claude's not disappointed, not even a little. (Maybe a little.)
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 46
Kudos: 314





	the romance of history

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FandomShmandom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomShmandom/gifts).



> This was written for Kat! Thank you so so much! ♥

Claude is almost late to meet Dimitri. It’s not really his fault - his bus came late - but he rushes anyway, and when he finally finds Dimitri waiting by one of the statues in front of the museum, he’s out of breath.

It doesn’t really emanate the suave, intriguing energy Claude was hoping to bring along with him. Instead he’s a little sweaty, his hair is a mess, and it takes him a moment before he’s able to catch his breath enough to say hello. But it’s fine. It doesn’t matter.

After all, this isn’t a date.

“It’s all right,” Dimitri says, and he smiles, though there’s something a bit stilted about it. “There’s no entry time on our tickets. It won’t make a difference if we’re running late.” He pulls two tickets to the museum’s special exhibit out of his pocket, handing one to Claude. Their fingers don’t brush. Claude can’t tell whether that’s intentional or not.

He’d wanted it to be a date, because he’s an idiot. He’d hoped it was. When Dimitri caught him on his way out the door of their classroom, when he said _That exhibit you were talking about - I have tickets for it, we’ve had a membership there for years. Would you like to go?_ \- well, Claude had felt a silly surge of hope. He’s been quietly nurturing a bit of a crush on Dimitri since he transferred there, after all. Since that very first day, when he paused in the busy hallways, trying to decipher the confusing and over-photocopied map of the school. Since Dimitri stopped, and asked where he was going, and then walked him there.

He was the first person to be kind to Claude at Garreg Mach, and that made an impression. Besides, Claude has eyes. Dimitri is handsome and courteous, he’s athletic and strong. His grades are good, if not stellar, and the teachers like him. The students like him. _Everyone_ likes him, which is why Claude has always figured he doesn’t have much of a chance.

But then Dimitri invited him to the museum, and Claude - never one to pass up an opportunity - smiled and accepted and made a comment about it being a date. It was just close enough to a joke that Dimitri could shrug it off, but Claude was still disappointed when he stared at Claude for a moment, wide-eyed like a deer in headlights, and then said _Oh, um, no, I mean -_

Claude rescued him from his embarrassment, laughing and saying it was just a joke. He’d ignored the sinking feeling in his stomach. Of course Dimitri wouldn’t ask him out. Even if he likes boys, which is by no means certain (Claude asked around, Dimitri has never had a boyfriend _or_ a girlfriend), that doesn’t mean he’ll like Claude, of all people.

So they’re going as friends. And that’s fine. He does really want to see this exhibit, after all, and he likes spending time with Dimitri. He isn’t going to complain.

“Let’s head in,” he says, smiling at Dimitri, and they do.

The exhibit is a temporary one, which is why Claude wanted to come see it so badly. It’s been years since these artifacts have been on display, and it’ll probably be years more before he has another chance to see them. It’s ancient history now, but Claude has always liked ancient history. The Unification War has always especially interested him, ever since his mother told him that King Khalid was supposedly a distant ancestor of theirs. It’s probably just a family legend, but it excited Claude when he was younger, and he’d read all kinds of books about the war. To finally get to see what few artifacts remain - well, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t excited again.

The exhibit isn’t that crowded, even though it’s a weekend. Dimitri sticks close to Claude, and Claude tries not to let himself read anything into that. They’re friends, that’s all, and Claude _does_ have a lot of useless knowledge about this part of history, and Dimitri is kind enough to listen. He even looks interested.

“Most artifacts from those days were lost in the Great Fire of Enbarr, hundreds of years ago. The museum burned down, and they were hardly able to save anything. So there’s a lot we don’t know - the stuff here is basically all that’s left.” Claude peers into one of the glass display cases, looking at the axe resting there, supposedly wielded by one of King Khalid’s most loyal generals. “There aren’t even any paintings or anything left.”

“We covered it a bit in history class,” Dimitri says. He’s looking at a bundled stack of letters, one of the only remaining pieces of written correspondence from that era. Claude’s about halfway through reading an academic text arguing that the contents of the letters imply a romantic relationship between two of the kings involved in the war, and he almost tells Dimitri that - but he stops himself. No need to make this awkward.

He grins instead. “Yeah? I bet they just did the usual ‘it was a big war and that’s how Fódlan got unified’ thing. I bet they left out all the fun stuff.” He elbows Dimitri and tries not to read anything into it when Dimitri moves away slightly. “Did they at least tell you that one of the kings had the same name as you?”

Dimitri does smile then, and looks at him. “King Dimitri of Faerghus, yes.” He shrugs, a little embarrassed. “It’s a really common name around here.”

Which makes sense, because the city they live in is in what would have been Faerghus, all those years ago. People have been naming baby boys after the famous king for almost a thousand years. Still, Claude likes the coincidence.

“You’d make a good king,” he says. “All noble and gracious.” He’s teasing, but Dimitri seems uncomfortable, and - Claude doesn’t know what to make of it.

This whole outing has felt that way, like there something imperceptibly off. Usually Dimitri lets Claude tease him, even occasionally gives in and teases back. Usually things are easy between them, but - well, he supposes they haven’t really hung out one-on-one for a long period before.

Maybe Dimitri doesn’t really like Claude without that buffer of their shared friends around them.

The thought of that sits heavily on Claude’s shoulders. He likes Dimitri, _really_ likes him. He tries not to let it bother him when people don’t like him - that’s out of his control, after all, and usually the reasons aren’t anything he can change. But he already knows Dimitri’s not like that. Dimitri wouldn’t dislike him because of who his parents are or where he’s from, and if it’s not that…

If it’s not that, it’s him, and that’s something Claude can’t shrug off so easily.

So he smiles at Dimitri, and keeps his voice light and his jokes easy. He tries not to invade Dimitri’s personal space too much. Maybe he can turn this around, get Dimitri to like him. He’s charming, after all, his Aunt Judith says so (usually while rolling her eyes) all the time.

They make their way through the exhibit, Claude continuing to provide what he hopes are interesting historical facts. He tries to ignore the unreadable glances that Dimitri shoots him now and then, tries not to read anything into the way he’ll pause for a moment before responding.

The exhibit, at least, is everything Claude hoped for. Despite the awkwardness of it all, the itch of his curiosity has finally been scratched. He’s ready to dig back into the book he has waiting at home - he left off when the author was arguing that a certain tapestry depicting a deer and a lion actually symbolized a romance. Now that he’s seen it himself, he thinks he understands that impression. Old and faded as it is, the edges seared with the flames it had been barely saved from, the figures are still depicted with surprising tenderness. The lion rests its head upon the deer’s flank, the deer curls around it to tuck its nose against the lion in return. Lovely, really.

He’s thinking about it when they exit the museum, because he’s trying not to think about Dimitri. The air between them still feels off, the conversation awkward. Claude doesn’t know what to do, how to fix it. If he _can_ fix it. Maybe he just needs to accept that his crush is even more hopeless than he thought.

He smiles at Dimitri. “Hey, thanks for bringing me along. That was great.” Time to cut this short and go home to lick his wounds, he thinks. They can still hang out with their other friends around, right? He raises a hand to wave goodbye.

“Claude, wait.” Dimitri sounds more labored than ever before. He shifts his feet. Claude doesn’t think he’s ever seen Dimitri this uncomfortable. “I - must be honest.”

Claude makes an encouraging noise, raising his eyebrows. In fact, he’s not sure he wants to hear what Dimitri has to say, but it’s not like he can just walk away. Might as well brace himself for the blow.

Dimitri’s cheeks flush, and he looks away for a moment. Then he takes a deep breath, steadies himself, and meets Claude’s eyes. “When I asked you here, I meant for it to be a date.”

What?

“ _What?_ ”

“I intended to make that clear at the time, and I should have. But - it seems that you’re always catching me by surprise, and when you made that joke, I… I didn’t know what to say.” Dimitri shifts in place again, and suddenly Claude is seeing the entire afternoon in a different light. Dimitri’s distance - had that been nervousness, instead of dislike? His discomfort when Claude got too close, could that have been because he _likes_ Claude?

“I apologize for not making my intentions clear from the beginning,” Dimitri says. “I like you, Claude.” His pale cheeks are furiously pink now, and Claude can’t help but be charmed by it. “I know that you only wish to be friends -”

Claude grins. He can’t stop himself. “Oh, you know that, do you?”

Dimitri stops. “What?”

“When did I ever say I just wanted to be friends?” Claude’s never felt butterflies in his stomach before, but he thinks that must be what he’s feeling right now. This strange mix of excitement and anxiety, as the hope he’d tried to push away suddenly comes rushing back. “I shouldn’t have joked back then. If you’d asked me out on a date, I would have said yes.”

Dimitri just stares at him, pretty blue eyes wide. Claude steps closer, because maybe that’s okay now. Maybe he can.

“Why don’t you ask me again? I promise I won’t mess it up this time.” He looks up at Dimitri, just a tiny bit taller than him, and he waits.

Finally, Dimitri smiles, and Claude’s melodramatic heart skips a beat. “Claude, would you like to go on a date with me?” He asks it so sweetly, so formally. And then he reaches out to take Claude’s hand, and - Claude’s gone. He might as well just hand his entire heart and soul over right now.

“Yes,” he says, smiling up at Dimitri. “I’d really like that.”

They must look like two idiots, standing there outside the museum smiling at each other. But Claude doesn’t care, and he knows Dimitri doesn’t, either. Suddenly there’s so much _possibility_ , so much to look forward to.

Things are just beginning.


End file.
